1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a display device, and more particularly, the present invention relates to a display device for use in an instrument panel to be mounted in an automotive vehicle or for amusement purposes. Moreover, the present invention also relates to an instrument panel and an automotive vehicle incorporating such a display device.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, an instrument panel of a car may carry various instruments such as a speedometer. However, it has been proposed to provide, instead of such conventional instruments, a display device such as a liquid crystal display device or a CRT on an automotive vehicle instrument panel. Such a display device may be used to display information which is necessary for driving (see, for example, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 9-123848).
Moreover, display devices such as liquid crystal display devices and CRTs are often provided in video game machines, pachinko (Japanese pinball) machines, pachinko-slot machines, and the like, thus being used for amusement purposes.
When a display device is used for an instrument panel or for amusement purposes, the display is based on man-made contents, typically resulting in a portion for displaying a fixed background or the like (a portion where information is to be displayed in a static manner) and a portion for displaying information containing motions or changes (a portion where information is to be displayed in a dynamic manner). Among the two portions, “burn-in” of images (“image persistence”) is likely to occur in the former portion (i.e., the portion where information is to be displayed in a static manner).
Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2003-177715 discloses a technique for preventing burn-in of images on a display device. This technique uses a display device having a displayable area which is broader than the actual image display area, such that display areas are sequentially switched from one another with a predetermined timing.
However, the technique disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2003-177715 cannot be adopted for a display device for an instrument panel because a display device for an instrument panel is supposed to display information which is necessary for driving an automotive vehicle. If the displayed position of such information changes, the driver will be distracted and confused, and the driver will not be able to readily locate desired information, thus resulting in a delayed or unsuccessful delivery of information to the driver.
The technique disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2003-177715 cannot be adopted for a display device for amusement purposes, either. Similarly, if the displayed position of information changes, the player will be distracted and confused, and the player will not be able to readily locate desired information, thus resulting in a delayed or unsuccessful delivery of information, which is a serious complication for game play.
In the case of a display device for a personal computer, it is commonplace to run a program (called a “screen saver”) which causes the display to black out or display simple animations following a period of inactivity, in order to prevent burn-in of images. However, a display device for an instrument panel or a display device for amusement purposes as described above is always required to display information, thus making it impractical to use a screen saver in such applications.